Earlier this month, Pile played The Sinclair, accompanied by Lady Pills and Pet Fox for a night of incredibly dynamic and explosive performances. Pet Fox opened with a mix of solid drum grooves and polyrhythmic guitar and bass, making for an interesting and dynamic sound that was hard to resist headbanging to. The round buzzing and harmonies by bassist Morgan Luzzi melded well with the simple yet awesomely groovy drumming of Jesse Weiss. Guitarist and vocalist Theo Hartlett got a laugh out of the house as he reminisced on how shakily nervous the band had felt during their first show at The Sinclair. But feeling cozy this time around, Pet Fox radiated warmth and focus as they swayed along to the surf-rock vibes and spacey delay effects on the guitar.

Next up, Lady Pills opened with a dramatic rolling buildup of guitar and bass, while toms rumbled and cymbals crashed in the back. Eventually, this somber and mysterious sound turned into grand energy when the band exploded into an upbeat and funky excursion. The guitarist’s and bassist’s vocals danced in counterpoint over beautiful instrumental that flowered. At one point, the crowd let out a collective giggle as a tuner flung off the bassist’s instrument. Overall, Lady Pills stood out with their huge sound drenched in reverb and delay, swooping composition sprinkled with tense harmonies and funky beats, and beautiful vocals that glued everything together.

Diving right into it, Pile opened with “Baby Boy,” and the house roared in response. Rick Maguire’s and Chappy Hull’s full yet cutting guitars rumbled in front of drummer Kris Kuss’ barrage of drum work. Playing one track right after the other, Pile continued into “Lord of Calendars,” “Grunt Like a Pig,” and “Pigeon Song.” Their sound shined with eclectic polyrhythms on top of crazy song structures, an enormous guitar sound, and obscure melodic lyrics. A moshpit opened on the floor and the house swayed like the ocean. Part way through their set, Rick took a moment to say thanks, and a member of the crowd asked “who’s missing a shoe!?” as the band lead into “A Labyrinth With No Center,” “Uncle Jill,” and “Sun Poisoning.” Bassist Alex Molini was deep in the zone, facing Kris for the entirety of the set with sweat showering off his face. There was a look of satisfaction and content on their faces as they ran through the rest of their set, lingering on the powerful “Hiding Places.” At the end of the night, the crowd was pleasantly surprised when Rick invited up former bassist Matt Connery for the last song.

See below for photos from the show (in order: Pile, Lady Pills, and Pet Fox):